Chapter 33 #3
I should have known that borrowing Paola’s key to check one last time was a bad idea.
When she explained we were behind schedule, so she had to keep scrubbing the grout in the master bathroom, I should have stayed with her and helped instead of insisting I went alone.
Now, because I’m an idiot, I’m not only going to die, but I’ll also get her in trouble.
I was so absorbed by that fucking safe that it took me several seconds to register Lex’s warning.
But as soon as I got it, I grabbed my cleaning supplies and left.
I was almost out of the hallway when I heard voices.
Two men. One I didn’t know, and one I’ve heard during our preparation for this whole thing.
Becker. He was here somehow. I snuck a glimpse, and seeing who the second man was nearly brought me to the floor, my knees almost giving out from fear.
Horvat was there. The man who put a bullet in me was right there, ten steps away.
While Becker might not have recognized me if I’d passed by him with my head down and carrying cleaning supplies, his interlocutor would.
My fight-or-flight instinct took over, and I sprinted back to the office, then, after half a second to think about it, I locked the door as it was supposed to be and threw myself in the small closet.
I’m a sitting duck, in the dark, listening.
I’ve never been this scared in my life. Not even when I got shot.
My thoughts are clogged with sheer panic, and the sound of my blood beating in my ears is deafening.
If they find me here, that’s it. I’ll be dead before the day ends.
And they’ll probably use me to get Lex as well.
The scar on my shoulder, which hasn’t bothered me in weeks, tingles and aches. It’s like the trauma my body endured is resurfacing, triggered by the man right outside this door who caused it.
Tears fill my eyes, and I only notice it when they pool at my chin. I should have listened to Lex and quit when he asked. I pushed my luck too far, and now it might be too late.
Fuck … I don’t want to die.
I can’t breathe. My lungs aren’t working, refusing to expand, and all I can muster are shallow and short intakes.
So fucking loud. Closing my teary eyes again, I force myself to calm down, focusing on my sternum to take deep, long, and slow breaths.
In … and out … If I start sobbing or keep being so loud, they’ll find me.
For several seconds, all I can do is work on regulating my breathing to be as silent as possible. I don’t even pay attention to what they’re saying. But as soon as I’m calm enough, I come closer and press my ear to the door.
“So, do you have my butterflies?” Becker asks.
“Yes. All three arrived at the facility yesterday.” It’s the first time I hear the snake guy’s voice, and it sends icy shivers under my skin.
His tone is coarse, like someone who smokes too much, and there’s something cold and lethal about it.
“One of them is … feisty. I think you’ll enjoy breaking her,” he continues.
They’re definitely not talking about butterflies.
This is some kind of code, and given what we know about Becker, it’s not hard to guess what it’s about.
Women. Horvat supplies him with women. What does he do with them?
Does he “break” them like he broke Lorelei Madsen?
I suspected what he did to her wasn’t an isolated occurrence, but I didn’t think he made it a sport.
Is that his big, shameful secret? Regularly abusing women in a vile and brutal manner?
“Good,” Becker approves, audibly smiling. “It’s my birthday, after all. It has to be special.”
“I know. That’s why you wanted three. I have pictures if you want to see for yourself.”
My mind is still swarming with questions and disgust when Becker answers. “No, I want it to be a surprise.”
“Well, know you’ll be pleased.”
“I’m easy to please, as long as they’re pretty and young. You’ll get your payment upon delivery, and if I really am pleased, I’ll even throw in a bonus.”
“The usual time?”
“A little earlier. The guests will start arriving at eight, so be here before seven.”
Pressed as I am against the door, I face the wallpaper opposite the shelves.
In the darkness of the room, I notice something I never saw despite looking everywhere thoroughly.
There’s light coming from inside the wall.
Rectangular in shape, just the rim of it.
Something is there, carefully hidden behind the wallpaper.
The safe! That must be the fucking safe I’ve been looking for these past three days.
Hidden so well that I never saw it, despite passing my hands all over that wall.
I’m so relieved to have finally found it, I could almost forget I’m in mortal danger. I need to survive this. It’d be so fucking stupid to die so close to the end of this whole mess.
The conversation outside takes a turn that distracts me from my discovery.
“What of our other matter?” Becker asks.
“I’ll make another move on his girlfriend’s family soon. I tried with her mother, but I didn’t go hard enough.”
Jesus, fuck. They’re talking about us. We are the “other matter.”
“What of his relatives?”
“They’re untouchable. Trust me, I tried getting close enough.”
Becker huffs, displeased. “Is he still in Seattle?”
“I haven’t had visual confirmation of it for a few weeks now, so I’m not sure.”
“It’s been months, Horvat. Are you even trying?” Becker bitterly demands.
“I’m doing my best, boss. The man knows how to cover his tracks. There’s also the bounty going on, so someone else might end up doing the job for us.”
“I can’t believe I’m three million dollars deep into this, and that man still isn’t dead.”
“I told you bribing the judge and prosecutor wouldn’t work. You should have let me kill him while he was awaiting trial.”
“And raise suspicions? Coleman was supposed to take the plea deal and die in prison, as intended. I spent a lot of money making that ten-year deal appealing.”
I’m stunned, completely and utterly shocked. Becker was on Lex for even longer than we thought. He tampered with the trial, bribed people to make sure Lex would never be free again.
What the fuck …
It wasn’t my heist that set him off. He was after Lex the whole time. As soon as Becker heard he might be Nammota, he got to work to ensure Lex wouldn’t survive the process.
They talk about Lex for a few more minutes, then the conversation returns to the “butterflies” Becker mentioned earlier. This Friday evening, some shit is going down. I suspected that Becker’s gathering on Friday would be one of his off-camera parties, and this conversation confirms it.
I hold my breath when I hear one of them pass close to the door. Fuck, I wish I had my phone so I could send Lex all that information, in case I don’t make it. But Mrs. Reed is extremely strict about that and searches the maids before every shift.
What feels like hours pass, even though it must be ten minutes or less, and the two men leave the room. I fall to my knees with gratitude, feeling like I can breathe again. My chest is still tight and aching, but it slowly improves as the tension leaves my body.
Using my lower vantage point, I come to the keyhole and glimpse through it. The office really is empty. They’re gone. I fucking survived the scariest situation I’ve ever been in. And I found the safe.
Refusing to let the adrenaline crash ruin my chances, I rise to my feet and turn the light on.
As I’ve noticed before, the wallpaper is perfectly applied, without the slightest hint that something hides behind it.
But I saw some light, and I know there must be a hidden door.
Using my fingers, I try to find the shape again, having a vague idea of where it is.
As I spread my hands around, I sense it.
A barely perceptible dent and a cut in the wallpaper.
I follow the outline, which must be twenty inches wide by fifteen inches tall.
Holy shit … It was right under my nose the entire time, so well-hidden, I didn’t notice it despite looking.
Unsure how to open this hidden panel, I push against it in several places.
To my delight, a click comes as the panel dips in a couple of millimeters.
Then the door opens, set on a simple push-to-open latch.
What’s behind it isn’t nearly as simple, though.
There it is. The fucking safe I’ve been looking for. The one Lorelei told us about.
It’s nested about five inches into a niche that’s exactly its size, and I’m pretty sure it’s secured in there.
Just like the other safes I found, it’s electronic.
There’s a digital screen on it, which is where the light I saw must have come from.
But it’s off now. Could Lex’s tampering with the electricity have made the safe reboot, thus turning on the screen? That could explain it.
As I did with the other ones, I absorb as much information as I can to give Lex a full report so we can look for the precise model.
It’s a different brand, it’s the smallest of them all, and it’s stainless steel in appearance.
I use my hand to measure the width and height, making sure not to leave any prints.
As soon as I’m done, I close the panel again and make my way out of the closet. I listen intently before exiting the office and locking it. With my cleaning supplies in hand, I walk to the service door as fast as I can without raising suspicions, keeping my head low.
I found the safe, survived Becker and Horvat’s unexpected appearance, and will live to tell the tale to Lex.
All the maids have already changed and gone by the time I arrive at the locker room. All of them but Paola. She jumps up from the bench and surprises me with a hug. “Where were you?!” she asks in Spanish once she lets go, scolding me like a mother would.
“I found the safe!” I whisper.
“You did?!”
“Yes, hidden in the wall of the closet. You have to press on it to reveal a hidden panel.”
She lights up at the revelation, as if this were her own mission.
Although I’ve been paying her five thousand dollars per day she’s helping me, I’d like to think she’s sympathetic to our cause.
And while we’re not friends, we’ve become amicable.
I told her about Becker’s past misdeeds, as well as what he did to poor Lorelei, and her dislike for the man has grown tenfold.
“Excuse me, I need to call L—my husband,” I say, catching myself at the last moment. She still doesn’t know our identities, and I’d rather keep it that way.
I rush to my locker, get my phone, and see Lex has texted me like a maniac for the past fifteen minutes. I don’t waste a second reading any of them and call him immediately.
It hasn’t even started ringing when he picks up. “Jesus fucking Christ! Are you alright?!” he practically shouts with relief.
“I am. Your warning gave me just enough time to hide.”
“I was so fucking scared. I—I froze when I saw Becker on the screen, and it took me a few seconds before I could think straight and send you the signal.”
“You still did good, baby. You did great. I found the safe.”
“You did?!”
“Yes! It’s hidden in the wall of Becker’s office.”
“You were in the office with them the whole time?”
“In the closet, but yes. I also heard some interesting things.”
“What?”
I glance back at Paola, who’s still waiting so we can leave together, like we’ve been doing for three days. “Come get me. I’ll tell you everything.”
“I’m on my way. Get dressed and get out as soon as you can.”
I can already hear him on the move. “We did it, baby,” I say, smiling from ear to ear.
“You did it. I love you so fucking much, you fucking lunatic.”
“Love you too. See you soon, mi amor.”